Remontado-Dumagat of General Nakar

The Dumagat of Quezon province resides in various barangay of General Nakar. Umiray, Lumutan,
Pangsangahan, Uma, Yokyok, and other barangays of General Nakar are the settlement of the ancestral ladn of
the Dumagat. Just like their other kinds, they live on the remote areas in the upland, far from the lowlanders and
technologies. They’ve leave in there peacefully for decades until they faced the biggest challenge of their tribe,
the construction of the Kaliwa Dam that will destroy their land and culture.

The construction of dam opened a lot of issues and problems the Dumagat faced before and after they knew
about the dam. Their land where considered as a protected area because it is their ancestral land but all of the
sudden, they just don’t have the right to stay from their land because of the construction of the dam. It is a proof
that even if there are laws and regulations that protects the indigenous people of our country, it’s still not
enough when crisis like this came. They were also afraid that they would end up like the other known IP’s that
were relocated because of the same situation that they have, that when they moved into the resettlement for the
affected people is that not all of the promises or programs that were told to them where not true. They don’t
have water or electricity and that they were relocated into the remote areas. And for lose who chose to stay
within the watershed were not allowed to enter from their land. They were forced to find something to eat or
sell far from their houses. They chose to live far from the people that cannot understand them and yet the
government would choose their land as a water supply for other people not considering the lives and the culture
of the indigenous people residing in there.
Cultural Aspects of Dumagat tribe

 They also have sacred places namely, Mainit, Tinapak, Tulaog that they believed that can heal all of
their wounds. They also used it as a ritual for baptism. They also used this place as a gathering place for
their worship and their feast gathering which is held every 4th of August once a year.
 Pagmamaman is practiced by the Dumagats because of social reasons. It is used to initiate, maintain, and
propagate friendship and camaraderie. The Dumagat offers maman as a sign of friendship.
Pagmamaman is a social equalizer. In the Dumagat community, everybody chews maman. Young, old,
women, men, elders, and leaders are all the same and equal when it comes to maman everybody spits
red. Pagmamaman will remain as a Dumagat social practice. It is a tradition that the Dumagats inherited
from their elders and would like to keep and pass on to the younger generation. They are aware of the
warnings about the health risk related to maman chewing. Despite these warnings, no Dumagat has
complained that they experience ed the harmful health effects of maman.
 The Dumagats have changed a lot, but their understanding and unity for each other makes them as one.
How they look at each other and respect their environment is enough for them to live. They live very
different from others and they live like they were the only tribe in their place. They could live without
fully coping with modern living but they leave at ease far from the city.